Jakarta (ANTARA) - The National Food and Drug Supervisory Agency (BPOM) said the positive trend of the national cosmetics industry growth in the past three years would require strict monitoring of production and distribution.

"I truly stress monitoring of production and distribution to the Deputy of Traditional Medicines, Cosmetics, and Health Supplements Monitoring to truly assist the business sector in following the applicable regulations," BPOM Head Penny K. Lukito said at the opening of the "National Forum of Cosmetics Businesspeople" here on Monday.

Although cosmetics are categorized as products with low risk, there are still many aspects to them that can affect user health, she added.

According to a BPOM report, at least 76 criminal offenses linked to the cosmetics industry have been recorded, she noted.

The cases range from the illegal distribution of products to the use of chemicals in excess of the safe threshold, she explained.

Half of the distribution permits issued by the agency in the period from 2020 to 2022 were for cosmetic products made by MSMEs and multinational companies, she informed.

Based on an evaluation of the development of cosmetics production and development, monitoring of cosmetic businesses, which operate on the basis of production contracts, needs to be carried out, she added.

This is because there are many businesses that have entered cosmetics production contracts through the Notification-Owning Cosmetic Enterprises (BUPN) mechanism, she explained adding, their number has reached 1,772 so far.

BUPN serves as a platform for cosmetics enterprises who are yet to own a production facility and allows them to connect with manufacturers who can create their products.

"Although currently, cosmetics production contracts have an important role in the national economy, the risk of fake products that contain hazardous materials, which have no distribution permit, is relatively high," she warned.

She informed that such cases are usually detected through e-commerce or marketplace investigations, as well as investigations or raids on manufacturing sites.

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Translator: Andi Firdaus, Mecca Yumna
Editor: Sri Haryati
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